If money can't buy hapiness, why are the poor so unhappy?

Question

Is the saying "money can't buy happiness" a function of the rich trying to stay rich?

Everyone tell us that the rich are miserable...though I've yet to see one example of a rich person who is truly unhappy [besides hollywood drama queens.]

Rationalising away the wants of an impoverished person does not explain why many people of lesser means KNOW they would be happier with more money.

Answer 1

Being poor can be a state of mind compounded by a lack of knowledge and/or education, laziness, and physical/mental disabilty and/or disadvantage. If you think the odds are always against you, and that you're doomed to a life of part-time servitude at minimum wage, then that's probably all you'll get to experience because you will be less likely to be able to recognize and seize upon opportunity. As such, a lot of poor people think that the government/rich/etc. are out to get them. They think in terms of negatives, which will affect their outlook on life.

Of course, I speak in general terms. There are people who are considered financially poor, but quite content and happy with their lives.

Additionally, trying to equate money with happiness is similar to trying to equate money with power (the same goes with trying to equate knowledge to power.) Despite the old addage, the truth is that money is not power.

Imagine a giant bolder balancing dangerously at the top of a hill. At any second, the bolder could come crashing down, toppling trees, smashing cars and causing devastation in it's wake. But at the moment, it's just sitting there doing nothing.

Now, not to say that money is used only to cause destruction, but money sitting in the bank is just like a giant bolder sitting at the top of a hill-it's not really doing anything for you (granted that you ignore the fact that it is collecting a small amount of interest.) However, as soon as you put that money into motion in the form of a monetary transaction in exchange for some goods or services, it can become quite powerful.

Money (and knowledge for that matter) is potential power.

For me, having some extra money stowed away in the bank makes my life easier and less stressful because I don't have to worry about starving, paying my bills, or dealing with any number of problems that might suddenly happen. And the less stress that I have to deal with, the better the chances are that I'm going to be a happier man.

Of course, if I was, say, suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease, no amount of money is going to help me. But for the majority of issues that I face on a day-to-day basis, money is the cure.

Plus money has the potential to purchase goods and/or services that can lead to memorable and/or pleasurable experiences. Being able to share those experiences with loved ones such as friends and family, or hell, just yourself, can result in a much happier outlook on life.

However, if not used wisely, money also has the potential to turn you from happy to miserable.

In conclusion, I would have to say that money CAN help increase the amount of happiness in your life. A significant portion of the poor are unhappy because they do not think positively, or don't know how to think positively. Plus they continuously judge themselves on their past failures and compare themselves to successful people. And finally, I believe the saying was "money can't buy happiness" was popularized by old wives who's husbands were lazy and couldn't provide a suitable living for their family, and so they became adjusted to their meager way of life. And as a way of reconciling their existence, the phrase "money can't buy happiness" was coined.

(P.S. I speak only of the poor in the first-world countries. If you're poor and you live in a country that is run by an oppressive regime, well you have a lot more to be unhappy about.)

Answer 2

You are making an assumption in your question. You stated that poor people are unhappy. "Poor" and "Rich" are both subjective adjectives/nouns. What I think of as being "Poor" may be "Rich" to a person from a 3rd world nation. The "Poor" people in New Orleans are "Rich" to the eyes of an African refugee.
If you are talking only about the USA, the answer is dependent on your values. If money is what you value most, you will never be happy until you are rich. If humanitarian acts is what you value most, you could live on the streets as a pauper and be happy ; Mother Theresa did.
There has been a lot of sadness and loss in the lives of some of the wealthiest entertainers in Hollywood and it would be a hurtful reminder to some families to use examples, but I'm sure you know many. Many cannot buy happiness.
In theory, mankind can reach a state of happiness (spiritual peace) only after his basic needs are met. Hungry people cannot feed their minds until their stomachs are not growling, so it is true to some extent that money can pay for the ability to achieve happiness. Money nor poverty, alone, are the threshold for happiness. It is a personal value system which determines happiness. Good Luck !

Answer 3

I don't believe the poor are totally "unhappy" as you describe. I only think because we haven't the resources of money that rich people have it causes more strain. We have to live everyday simply "getting by" sometimes counting pennies to by milk. If you can except that you haven't such resources and do not try to live beyond your means then you can and will be happy. People who haven't much tend to want more, want is the true culprit in misery, a person has to learn to stop wanting what he cannot have then happiness will come. Money cannot buy you happiness, some of the richest people in the world are the most miserable people on the planet. They have everything and after a while have nothing left to want or experience. I actually think having money can hurt you more than help you if you aren't careful. I think that term is actually a saying created by a rich man who knows the true meaning of happiness does not lie in a persons bank account because if it did his life would be perfect.

You have to think outside the box on that one and not see a poor person as being "poor" because a poor person is actually the richest person in the world. A poor person has the freedom to enjoy the things in life that he/she experiences, the ability to not take little things for granted, and the means to have faith and hope. A rich person has none of those things, how could they? They have everything, have done everything and because they have money don't have any reason to hope for anything? Do you think a rich person could truly appreciate Paris or Rome in the summer? Hell no, how could they, they didn't have to save and fight for the chance to go there. I would take poor over being rich any day, I don't want to wake up one morning and forget who I am!

Answer 4

it may't purchase happiness, even though it may get you way in route of it than poverty can: a million. wellbeing: money receives you merely excellent the medical doctors, into the merely excellent hospitals, have adequate money you the merely excellent care. 2. acquaintances: particular, possibly they in ordinary words like you on your money. you won't be able to in any respect comprehend. yet in the journey that they teach to be jerks, you should purchase new ones! 3. pressure: the #a million reason for pressure (and marital issues) is money concerns. once you've money, you do not ought to fret about it. 4. convenience: money will purchase you a softer mattress, a smoother operating motor vehicle, a house with significant warmth and air. those issues will make you happier than a demanding mattress, a junk motor vehicle, and/or residing on the streets in a cardboard container. 5. education: college expenses money. So does travelling. both those issues help to make human beings smarter, extra insightful, extra charitable. once you've money, you may have adequate money a competent education and the probability to commute and get to understand/understand human beings. deliver about the vast money !

Answer 5

I think no matter what your finances may be, you remain human and have humanly needs and issues. Rich people may have different issues then poor people, but still...Money helps, but is not everything (I know...only a poor person would say that...lol). Like I told my Ex : i`d rather live in a cardboard box than here with you for the rest of my life!

Answer 6

The poor aren't unhappy because they are poor. they are unhappy because being poor makes if difficult. Money doesn't make people happy it just makes life easier. not being able to pay your bills or buy food is what causes people to fight. which in return makes them unhappy. now if those same people were un happy with each other for other reasons than all the money in the world wouldn't matter it would just make it easier to deal with.

Answer 7

I've known quite a few happy poor people and a lot of depressed rich people. We gain happiness through strong relationships with others...money can't buy true friends.

Answer 8

There is a threshold about double the poverty level where happiness does not measure higher in a direct ratio to income. The hypothesis from that observation is that once we cover the basics, we are as happy as our genetic make up and circumstances allow us to be.
And everybody thinks they'll be happier with 20% more income. Of course.

Answer 9

money can't buy happiness. there are a lot of poor people that are perfectly happy and a lot of rich people that are unhappy. the more you have the more you want, but those who don't have learn to live without. money can buy you material objects but happiness isn't a material object. it is somethign that comes from within.

Answer 10

Who says the poor are unhappy?

I've spent time among some of the poorest people in Africa, but they were the most joyful, fun-loving people I've ever met. I could live among them forever and never miss the things that I have now.

Answer 11

First of all, you beg the question. Maybe money CAN buy happiness.

But, supposing you are right and it can't, I say the poor are unhappy because of the things money would let them buy: bread, housing, trips to Hawaii, and everything in between.